Orlandau

Great Railway Journeys St. Petersburg to Tashkent available on BBC iPlayer. Natalia Makarova and her son return to Russia in this 1994 documentary. It's very interesting to see the various cities the train, 'The Bolshoi Express' visits. Scenes that have stuck in my mind are the fishermen trying to catch sturgeon for caviar; the war memorial in the former Stalingrad; the circus scene where Andrusha nearly gives Natasha a heart attack playing on the trapeze; and the young dancer at the end. I can't say I liked the English passengers on the train, I don't think I would like to spend two weeks with them. Here is the link: BBC iPlayer - Great Railway Journeys - Series 2: 3. Natalia Makarova: St. Petersburg To Tashkent Well worth a watch!

Woke dance school drops ballet from auditions as it is ‘white’ and ‘elitist’ (msn.com) Words fail me. When I read articles like this I think this world is beyond me, I don't understand people anymore, maybe I'm just too old to understand.

Galina Samsova was the first Odette/Odile I ever saw, it was my first ballet at the ROH, and my first time watching SWRB. Since then I followed her and the company vicariously through the pages of Dancing Times, awaiting eagerly the company's visits to London, especially the Christmas visits to Sadler's Wells, what a varied repertory they used to bring! I especially remember her performances in The Invitation, Giselle, and Paquita, amongst many others. Very sad to hear she has died. I had a quick look at Birmingham Royal Ballet's home page and Twitter page, and was a bit miffed to find no mention of her.

LinMM - Yes this sounds like it was Sergeant Martin. I read that he was also very good at shepherding the prommers, and also the children during schools' matinees to their correct places. I believe he started working at the ROH in 1949 and stayed there until his death in 1981. It's also said he knew all the regulars by name, and took part in quite a few Friends' Christmas entertainments.

Looking through old issues of Dancing Times and Dance and Dancers, I came across references to Sergeant Martin. Being naturally curious and rather intrigued by this friendly looking gentleman I have tried to find out more about him. YouTube has a very small video clip of him, plus there are references to him in Norman Lebrecht's book about Covent Garden. I know he died in 1981, and was touched to see obituaries in Dancing Times and The Stage. Unfortunately I did not start visiting the ROH until 1985, so I missed meeting this kindly and avuncular man. I would be happy to know more about him and was wondering if anyone on this forum has any stories to tell?

Maybe my expectations were too high - disappointed to say the least.

From Birmingham Royal Ballet's February newsletter: On Friday 7 February Birmingham Royal Ballet Director Carlos Acosta will be announcing our 2020-21 season at a special event hosted at HSBC's new headquarters in Birmingham. We will be sharing all the details of the new season in a Season Launch Special edition of our e-newsletter after the event this week. I am very much looking forward to this, I can hardly wait to see what ballets will be performed!

My favourite Swan Lakes are the Peter Wright and Anthony Dowell productions. Wright's production I prefer slightly more. I think the prologue is a good idea for establishing the reason why Siegfried is melancholy. The ending of Act IV is what pushes it ahead of Dowell's production for me. Jenni carrying the dead Siegfried from the lake as we see the spirits of Siegfried and Odette United forever. Magical! The Dowell one I have watched numerous times since its 1987 premiere. I guess I must be in a minority for loving the swan dresses, I really think they give the impression of feathers. anyway I was watching it on DVD last night and today I had a little surprise awaiting me. Boarding a busy train at Hammersmith carrying my heavy shopping, I stood myself by the door, a tall gentleman who boarded the train at the same time asked me if I didn't want to sit down (there was one available seat), I looked up at him to explain I was only going one stop, and who should it be? Anthony Dowell!

BBC2 has a new series starting this evening about Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, looks quite interesting. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00077ch

I found the info about Carmen on the ROH's Facebook page.

The ROH currently has Carmen on YouTube available to watch until 1st August, so it's possible the ballets were posted officially for a limited time only. https://youtu.be/ER0Cj4DP4jo

Interesting comment, I was just thinking of his appearance in a Doctor Who story called The Caves of Androzani. Gable played a character called Sharaz Jek, whose severely disfigured face was hidden by a mask. Jek initially appears to be a callous murderer but Gable reveals him to be a pathetic and ultimately tragic individual. Truly an amazing performance in one of the best Doctor Who stories.

Many thanks to Richard LH, Bluebird and John Mallinson for your advice, I have booked marked the pages and am very happy ☺ Pity that BRB doesn't have an online archive.

Today I noticed it is no longer possible to access previous seasons on the ROH web site, not long ago it was still possible to go as far back as the 2012/13 season and onwards to the present day. When I tried this morning I got a 404 page not found error. As the ROH collections database only goes as far as December 2012 this was an added bonus, alas no longer 😞. I did email the ROH collections team quite a few months ago about the database and was told they knew it was out of date and they would be updating it soon. Still waiting. Such a shame as I know I'm not the only one who enjoys looking at past seasons, that this very interesting resource is being ignored. I feel like volunteering to update to update it myself 😊

I remember the days when the casting info for Romeo and Juliet used to include who was dancing Juliet, Romeo, Mercutio, Tybalt, Benvolio, Paris, Lord and Lady Capulet and the Nurse!